JIM MANSFIELD looks set to stir up another hornet's nest in relation to his five-year battle to build a second convention centre at his sprawling Citywest Complex in Saggart, Co Dublin. You might recall that Mansfield was forced to stop work on the facility a few years back, leaving a shell in place that still remains.
Mansfield thought he had finally received the green light when An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission last January, albeit with a reduced capacity of 4,100 compared with his original plan to host 6,000 at the €50 million venue.
South Dublin County Council, however, is threatening to scupper his plans. Citing a European Court of Justice ruling on retention planning permission, the council has threatened to take Mansfield to court unless he produces an Environmental Impact Assessment report.
Mansfield's legal advisers disagree and the larger-than-life businessman plans to press ahead with the development. "We'll be starting next week," Mansfield told me on Tuesday in his spacious office overlooking the helipad at Citywest. "We're actively recruiting staff for the convention centre."
Mansfield claims to be weathering the economic storm reasonably well. Turnover at Citywest this year is up 6.7 per cent. Mansfield says only two events have been cancelled and he has 120 events booked in for 2009.
Citywest comprises 1,730 hotel rooms, suites and apartments; two golf courses and a large convention centre. It has proved to be a cash cow for Mansfield's expanding business interests, which include Weston aerodrome, Finnstown hotel near Lucan and Palmerstown House golf course in Kildare.
His holding company, HSS, achieved turnover of €103 million in the year to the end of March 2008 and had retained profits of €77.3 million.
Weston is also flying, so to speak. It made a profit of €900,000 on turnover of €3.1 million in the year to the end of March.
That said, his properties have had their valuations slashed. "Citywest probably would have been worth €550 million at the peak . . . today you're talking about €400 million. Palmerstown is 800 acres. That was worth €500 million. Today I suppose you would be doing well to get €300 million."
Has he dropped money on the stock market? "Not two shillings," he says. "I invested €500,000 in Irish Life one time and it did very well to begin with and so I put more money in, and then it went down and I lost a packet. Never again did I get involved in it."
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label jim mansfield. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jim mansfield. Show all posts
Saturday, 20 December 2008
Mansfield pursues convention centre plan
JIM MANSFIELD looks set to stir up another hornet's nest in relation to his five-year battle to build a second convention centre at his sprawling Citywest Complex in Saggart, Co Dublin. You might recall that Mansfield was forced to stop work on the facility a few years back, leaving a shell in place that still remains.
Mansfield thought he had finally received the green light when An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission last January, albeit with a reduced capacity of 4,100 compared with his original plan to host 6,000 at the €50 million venue.
South Dublin County Council, however, is threatening to scupper his plans. Citing a European Court of Justice ruling on retention planning permission, the council has threatened to take Mansfield to court unless he produces an Environmental Impact Assessment report.
Mansfield's legal advisers disagree and the larger-than-life businessman plans to press ahead with the development. "We'll be starting next week," Mansfield told me on Tuesday in his spacious office overlooking the helipad at Citywest. "We're actively recruiting staff for the convention centre."
Mansfield claims to be weathering the economic storm reasonably well. Turnover at Citywest this year is up 6.7 per cent. Mansfield says only two events have been cancelled and he has 120 events booked in for 2009.
Citywest comprises 1,730 hotel rooms, suites and apartments; two golf courses and a large convention centre. It has proved to be a cash cow for Mansfield's expanding business interests, which include Weston aerodrome, Finnstown hotel near Lucan and Palmerstown House golf course in Kildare.
His holding company, HSS, achieved turnover of €103 million in the year to the end of March 2008 and had retained profits of €77.3 million.
Weston is also flying, so to speak. It made a profit of €900,000 on turnover of €3.1 million in the year to the end of March.
That said, his properties have had their valuations slashed. "Citywest probably would have been worth €550 million at the peak . . . today you're talking about €400 million. Palmerstown is 800 acres. That was worth €500 million. Today I suppose you would be doing well to get €300 million."
Has he dropped money on the stock market? "Not two shillings," he says. "I invested €500,000 in Irish Life one time and it did very well to begin with and so I put more money in, and then it went down and I lost a packet. Never again did I get involved in it."
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Mansfield thought he had finally received the green light when An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission last January, albeit with a reduced capacity of 4,100 compared with his original plan to host 6,000 at the €50 million venue.
South Dublin County Council, however, is threatening to scupper his plans. Citing a European Court of Justice ruling on retention planning permission, the council has threatened to take Mansfield to court unless he produces an Environmental Impact Assessment report.
Mansfield's legal advisers disagree and the larger-than-life businessman plans to press ahead with the development. "We'll be starting next week," Mansfield told me on Tuesday in his spacious office overlooking the helipad at Citywest. "We're actively recruiting staff for the convention centre."
Mansfield claims to be weathering the economic storm reasonably well. Turnover at Citywest this year is up 6.7 per cent. Mansfield says only two events have been cancelled and he has 120 events booked in for 2009.
Citywest comprises 1,730 hotel rooms, suites and apartments; two golf courses and a large convention centre. It has proved to be a cash cow for Mansfield's expanding business interests, which include Weston aerodrome, Finnstown hotel near Lucan and Palmerstown House golf course in Kildare.
His holding company, HSS, achieved turnover of €103 million in the year to the end of March 2008 and had retained profits of €77.3 million.
Weston is also flying, so to speak. It made a profit of €900,000 on turnover of €3.1 million in the year to the end of March.
That said, his properties have had their valuations slashed. "Citywest probably would have been worth €550 million at the peak . . . today you're talking about €400 million. Palmerstown is 800 acres. That was worth €500 million. Today I suppose you would be doing well to get €300 million."
Has he dropped money on the stock market? "Not two shillings," he says. "I invested €500,000 in Irish Life one time and it did very well to begin with and so I put more money in, and then it went down and I lost a packet. Never again did I get involved in it."
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
Mansfield's convention facility to go ahead after long battle
AN BORD Pleanála's decision to give the go-ahead to developer Jim Mansfield's convention centre at Citywest in Dublin signals the end of a long-running saga that has seen the building batted around the various elements of the planning system for close to half a decade.
The planning appeals board yesterday overturned the ruling of one of its own inspectors and decreed that the centre can go ahead.
Its decision is based on the facts that the facility fits in with specific zoning objectives laid down in the South County Dublin Development Plan, and that the Luas light rail line will be extended out to Saggart in Co Dublin, where Citywest is located, from its current terminal in Tallaght.
Four years ago, South Dublin County Council granted Mr Mansfield's company, HSS Ltd, permission to build the centre.
The company points out that there were no objections after five weeks, the time allowed for anyone opposed to such decisions to come forward.
After that five-week period elapses, there was a further four weeks allowed to facilitate any objections from adjoining landowners and from the developer himself, if he had a problem with any of the conditions laid down by the local authority.
Mr Mansfield was not going to object to the conditions and as the owner of most of the Citywest complex, he was also the adjoining landowner.
But heritage body, An Taisce, found out about the county council's decision after the initial five-week period was over. It went to An Bord Pleanála, which ruled that the council should have informed it.
This also opened the door to Harry Crosbie, owner of the Point Depot in Dublin's docklands, and a potential competitor for conference business, to object. In 2004, their objections succeeded, and the centre, which HSS had started building, was halted.
Mr Mansfield and his company began a protracted battle to get the centre built. In April 2007, he scaled it back, cutting capacity from 6,000 people to just over 4,100. Last November, the council again granted it permission.
An Taisce lodged an appeal in January, pointing out that the site was not singled out as suitable for a conference centre in either of two national development plans or the National Spatial Strategy.
The heritage body also had concerns about the amount of traffic it could create, and argued that the Luas extension was not enough to cope with this. However, An Bord Pleanála did not agree and has now given it the go-ahead.
Mr Mansfield was happy with the decision yesterday. His business, the Mansfield Group, which includes the hotel, conference centre and golf courses, welcomed the news. Its chief executive, Bernard O'Byrne, said that its potential value to the economy is €50 million a year.
"Independent research indicates that each overseas convention delegate contributes €1,500 to the Irish economy," he said.
Mr Mansfield was eager to make it clear that the planning row which has dogged the centre was not of his making. "Citywest and the local economy has paid a very high price - in the region of €200 million - for someone else's mistake," he argued.
He pledged to move ahead with the project as quickly as possible, although there could be an outside possibility that one of the objectors will seek to have the courts review the An Bord Pleanála ruling.
The group gave no indication of when it intends opening the centre for business, but it's likely that Mr Mansfield will be keen to do so before the proposed National Conference Centre in Spencer Dock in Dublin city, which is due to be completed in 2010.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The planning appeals board yesterday overturned the ruling of one of its own inspectors and decreed that the centre can go ahead.
Its decision is based on the facts that the facility fits in with specific zoning objectives laid down in the South County Dublin Development Plan, and that the Luas light rail line will be extended out to Saggart in Co Dublin, where Citywest is located, from its current terminal in Tallaght.
Four years ago, South Dublin County Council granted Mr Mansfield's company, HSS Ltd, permission to build the centre.
The company points out that there were no objections after five weeks, the time allowed for anyone opposed to such decisions to come forward.
After that five-week period elapses, there was a further four weeks allowed to facilitate any objections from adjoining landowners and from the developer himself, if he had a problem with any of the conditions laid down by the local authority.
Mr Mansfield was not going to object to the conditions and as the owner of most of the Citywest complex, he was also the adjoining landowner.
But heritage body, An Taisce, found out about the county council's decision after the initial five-week period was over. It went to An Bord Pleanála, which ruled that the council should have informed it.
This also opened the door to Harry Crosbie, owner of the Point Depot in Dublin's docklands, and a potential competitor for conference business, to object. In 2004, their objections succeeded, and the centre, which HSS had started building, was halted.
Mr Mansfield and his company began a protracted battle to get the centre built. In April 2007, he scaled it back, cutting capacity from 6,000 people to just over 4,100. Last November, the council again granted it permission.
An Taisce lodged an appeal in January, pointing out that the site was not singled out as suitable for a conference centre in either of two national development plans or the National Spatial Strategy.
The heritage body also had concerns about the amount of traffic it could create, and argued that the Luas extension was not enough to cope with this. However, An Bord Pleanála did not agree and has now given it the go-ahead.
Mr Mansfield was happy with the decision yesterday. His business, the Mansfield Group, which includes the hotel, conference centre and golf courses, welcomed the news. Its chief executive, Bernard O'Byrne, said that its potential value to the economy is €50 million a year.
"Independent research indicates that each overseas convention delegate contributes €1,500 to the Irish economy," he said.
Mr Mansfield was eager to make it clear that the planning row which has dogged the centre was not of his making. "Citywest and the local economy has paid a very high price - in the region of €200 million - for someone else's mistake," he argued.
He pledged to move ahead with the project as quickly as possible, although there could be an outside possibility that one of the objectors will seek to have the courts review the An Bord Pleanála ruling.
The group gave no indication of when it intends opening the centre for business, but it's likely that Mr Mansfield will be keen to do so before the proposed National Conference Centre in Spencer Dock in Dublin city, which is due to be completed in 2010.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Mansfield's Dublin convention centre gets the go-ahead
AN BORD Pleanála ended a four-year planning battle yesterday by giving permission to developer Jim Mansfield to go ahead with his controversial €90 million convention centre at Citywest in Saggart, Co Dublin.
The planning appeals board over-ruled an objection by heritage group An Taisce and the recommendation of one of its own inspectors to give the green light to the centre.
It will have the capacity to house over 4,100 delegates and will cost between €70 million and €90 million to complete.
The centre is partly built, but has been caught in a tangle of planning permissions and objections since 2004, when South Dublin County Council (SDCC) originally gave the facility the go-ahead. In its ruling, the board states the centre meets a specific objective of SDCC's development plan, in that it is in line with existing land use for the site - it is home to a golf club and hotel - and because Dublin's Luas light rail network will be extended to Saggart.
The board also pointed out that Mr Mansfield last year cut the centre's capacity from 6,000 to 4,161.
"In deciding not to accept the inspector's recommendation to refuse permission, the board had particular regard to the improved public transport facilities and the scale of the facility in relation to existing development permitted on the site," Bord Pleanála states in its ruling.
SDCC originally gave permission for the facility in 2004, and no party objected within the five-week timespan allowed for this. However, An Taisce and rival developer Harry Crosbie subsequently objected and Bord Pleanála ruled that the local authority should have informed interested parties of its decision.
The board allowed their objections, and Mr Mansfield had to take the project back to the drawing board. His group got permission last November, but An Taisce objected on planning and traffic grounds in January. Mansfield Group is one of three developers with interests in the area who are paying €13 million each to cover the cost of extending the Luas to Saggart from Tallaght.
Mr Mansfield welcomed Bord Pleanála's decision yesterday. "It's a great pity that this project has been delayed so long at an estimated cost of €1 million a week to the local economy in south Dublin, but we are eager to move this development forward as quickly as possible," he said.
His estimate of the loss to the local economy is based on research showing that each conference delegate that travels to Ireland is worth about €1,500 to the economy.
Mr Mansfield added that the hotel has been turning away "significant amounts" of conference business because the group was unable to complete the centre. Mr Mansfield's other interests include Citywest Hotel and business park, Finnstown House Hotel, near Adamstown, Weston Aerodrome and Johnstown House in Co Kildare.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The planning appeals board over-ruled an objection by heritage group An Taisce and the recommendation of one of its own inspectors to give the green light to the centre.
It will have the capacity to house over 4,100 delegates and will cost between €70 million and €90 million to complete.
The centre is partly built, but has been caught in a tangle of planning permissions and objections since 2004, when South Dublin County Council (SDCC) originally gave the facility the go-ahead. In its ruling, the board states the centre meets a specific objective of SDCC's development plan, in that it is in line with existing land use for the site - it is home to a golf club and hotel - and because Dublin's Luas light rail network will be extended to Saggart.
The board also pointed out that Mr Mansfield last year cut the centre's capacity from 6,000 to 4,161.
"In deciding not to accept the inspector's recommendation to refuse permission, the board had particular regard to the improved public transport facilities and the scale of the facility in relation to existing development permitted on the site," Bord Pleanála states in its ruling.
SDCC originally gave permission for the facility in 2004, and no party objected within the five-week timespan allowed for this. However, An Taisce and rival developer Harry Crosbie subsequently objected and Bord Pleanála ruled that the local authority should have informed interested parties of its decision.
The board allowed their objections, and Mr Mansfield had to take the project back to the drawing board. His group got permission last November, but An Taisce objected on planning and traffic grounds in January. Mansfield Group is one of three developers with interests in the area who are paying €13 million each to cover the cost of extending the Luas to Saggart from Tallaght.
Mr Mansfield welcomed Bord Pleanála's decision yesterday. "It's a great pity that this project has been delayed so long at an estimated cost of €1 million a week to the local economy in south Dublin, but we are eager to move this development forward as quickly as possible," he said.
His estimate of the loss to the local economy is based on research showing that each conference delegate that travels to Ireland is worth about €1,500 to the economy.
Mr Mansfield added that the hotel has been turning away "significant amounts" of conference business because the group was unable to complete the centre. Mr Mansfield's other interests include Citywest Hotel and business park, Finnstown House Hotel, near Adamstown, Weston Aerodrome and Johnstown House in Co Kildare.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
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